After the original venue of this paramount clash between these two schools was rescheduled from Havelocks Sports Club to Police Park due to immensely blustery weather, Trinity College proved their mettle and showcased exactly why they are deemed tournament favourites by dismantling a spirited Donz outfit in this all important Round 1 Clash in the week 4 of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026.
The initial 19 minutes of the clash went without any bother to the scorers but the Trinitians were taken aback by some masterful Rugby from DS Senanayake College as they were well within the Trinitian half up until that 25 min mark, where they tested every ounce of grit of the Trinitian defense. The Donz failed to make it over the try line during the first 20 minutes of play and missed out on key chances that they failed to grasp, highlighting firmly, when Praveen Lakmal made it through to the try area but it was deemed not a try.
However, he got his revenge mere minutes later when he touched down for the first try of the match at the 20th minute after capitalising on a lineout. He huffed and puffed his way through a strong Trinitian defense, to score the first try of the match and for D. S. Senanayake College. After the number 2 jersey scored for the Donz, their fullback failed to convert and make it a 7 point game in the shadows of a looming Half Time. (DS 05 – TC 00)
After the first 25 minutes of a masterful defense ploy from the hosts, their dominant visitors finally decided to join the party. With scrums and lineouts aplenty during the first bits of the first half, Trinity College decided to take full advantage of a scattered D. S. defense lineup as Shan Althaf, the decorated Trinity Skipper, flew past an opening in the hosts’ defense and scored for the first points on the board for the visitors. No. 34 Amher Faizal was given kicking duties by the Skipper for a change, but wasn’t able to make that conversion, so the scoreboard read points all. (DS 05 – TC 05)
Trinity decided not to look back further as they were virtually territorial in the D. S. half. With a minute to go to Half Time, the Trinitians showed ice in their veins with a scrum, whiskers away from the D. S. 22. Naheel Jayah who had just come on for the Lions, capitalised and touched down for a very important try for Trinity, in terms of snatching the lead from the home team. After that instrumental Jayah try, Amher Faizal made no mistake this time around as he made sure to convert and make it a 7 point game as the Referee blew the whistle to call Half Time. (DS 05 – TC 12)
Half Time: D. S .Senanayake College 05 (1T) – 12 Trinity College, Kandy (2T, 1C)
After the restart, Trinity College decided to pick things up exactly where they left off. They made sure to have placed themselves tactically within that foreign half in Althaf, making sure that his troops be on the attach from the get-go. At the 40th minute of the game, Trinity’s charging Kevin Weerakoon was intercepted by a well-rounded tackle, However, the ever so brilliant Trinity Skipper showed his class with a run in-and-swoop of the ball as he darted past the vacant holes of the D. S. defense and touched down for his second try of the evening. Faizal was unable to convert this time around, but all eyes were on Shan Althaf. (DS 05 – TC 17)
Not 3 minutes passed, and Trinity were already blazing through real estate again with Maduranga De Silva with a strong run in with the ball, passed it to his left on the run with Evin Jayasena making it through on his fresh legs for a breeze of a try. With Trinity unable to convert again, the scoreline was still daunting for the hosts. (DS 05 – TC 22)
With two lineouts near the Trinity 22 in succession, with the first one almost being disastrous, No. 04 jersey Sathila Anuranga made sure to keep the ball in tact at the back of the maul in pushing their team for a consolation try. Having failed to convert, the home team were made to be satisfied with 10 points on the board. (DS 10 – TC 22)
Following that was a strong reply from the Trinity Lions with an elegant wrap around ball from Althaf, and a pass for the no. 34 Amher Jamal to make his way to touch down for his first time in the match from strides into the D. S. territory. Shan Althaf decided to take the kick this time around and rightfully so as he curved it through the two posts to light up a gloomy Police Park with his own touches of perfection and class. (DS 10 – TC 29)
With less than 8 minutes to go two yellow cards were handed out to the D. S. No.15 jersey and the Trinity no. 14 jersey, with a penalty advantage being awarded to Trinity.
Trinity capitalising on that advantage, put full pressure on a D. S. maul but made sure to make it crumble with Naheel Jayah touching down for his second time for the evening. With the skies opening up Shan Althaf wasn’t able to make the conversion this time around from a similar position to his earlier conversion. (DS 10 – TC 34)
With their grip firmly placed on this contest, they decide to further down the hosts and go all out in the final 2 minutes of the game to snatch possession once again from the hosts and gain yards of real estate. At the 70th minute, quick passes between Udan Wijekoon and Shan Althaf and finally to Thisara Paris saw another try in search of dominance personified in favour of the Trinity Lions. Althaf capped it off to round off a perfect game for him with one final conversion to finish things off, with the Referee blowing the final whistle to cap things off at Police Park. ( DS 10 – TC 41)
It was a mere statement yet again from Trinity as the final whistle blew, to down the Donz and prove their stance in search for gold once again. Trinity College proved too tough for D. S. Senanayake College as they went rampant over the hosts at Police Park to assert their dominance in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026.
Full Time: D. S. Senanayake College – 10 (02T) – 41 Trinity College, Kandy ( 07 T, 02 C)
Swisstek Perfect Player of the Match: Shan Althaf (Trinity College)
Points Breakdown
D.S.Senanayake College – 10
Praveen Lakmal 1T, Sathila Anuranga 1T
Trinity College, Kandy – 41
Shan Althaf 2T, 2C, Naheel Jayah 2T, Evin Jayasena 1TThisara Paris 1T, Amher Jamal 1T, 1C.
Match Referee – Raveen Alexander
